Machine for hot-crimping skirts of plastic capsules and the like



Nov. 3, 1970 F. LANCESSEUR 3,537,137

MACHINE FOR HOT-CRIMPING SKIRTS OF PLASTIC CAPSULES AND THE LIKE FiledNov. 17, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheetl Fin-.1. Fi .2.

7 E 9 4 5 4 5 2 I 2 a {a}; a 6 f a Nov. 3, 1970 F. LA NCESSEUR 3,537,137

MACHINE FOR HOT-CRIMPING SKIRTS OF PLASTIC CAPSULESAND THE LIKE FiledNov. 17, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 J S: 11 21 [L 20 24 22 23 15 UnitedStates Patent 3,537,137 MACHINE FOR HOT-CRIMPING SKIRTS 0F PLASTICCAPSULES AND THE LIKE Francois Lancesseur, 1 Rue du Dome, Paris, FranceFiled Nov. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 684,045 Claims priority, applicationFrance, Oct. 20, 1967,

125,242 Int. Cl. B29c 17/00, 3/00 US. Cl. 18-19 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Machine for hot-crimping the skirts, plastic stoppers,capsules and gaskets, comprising a turret-platform, sta tions disposedat spaced intervals along the periphery of said turret-platform andadapted to receive the plastic stoppers to be crimped, crimping headsrotatably driven by said-turret platform, corresponding in number to,and overlying, said stations, said head being mounted for verticalsliding movement, spring means constantly urging said heads away fromthe underlying stations, a fixed ca-m concentric to said turret-platformand resiliently engaged by an upper extension of each crimping head,said cam being adapted to move each crimping head downwards toward thestopper to be crimped and thus cause said crimping operation to takeplace and subsequently allow said head to rise again under the controlof said spring means upon completion of the crimping operation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Plastics stoppers, capsules and gaskets ofround, square or other general configuration, comprising a skirtportion, are now frequently used in many applications requiring, in saidskirt portion, the presence of a dehydrating product in the form of atablet, powder or the like, which is retained in position by a cardboarddisc; in all cases, to prevent the escape of the aforesaid dehydratingproduct the edge of the skirt is crimped onto the tablet or thecardboard disk; in certain cases, this skirt is provided internally andan external skirt is added for imparting a greater flexibility to thecapsule or stopper.

Up to now the crimping operation was carried out mainly by using aconventional roller.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the essential object of the presentinvention to provide a machine for hot-crimping plastic stoppers,capsules or gaskets, which is characterized notably in that it comprisesa crimping head proper, made of bronze, brass or the like, adapted to beheated to the desired temperature and shaped to produce the desiredcrimping step by simply exerting a pressure, without any movement ofrotation, so as to prouce a permanent distortion of the plastic materialconstituting the outer lip of the skirt.

Stoppers, capsules, gaskets or boxes of which the skirt has been crimpedby the machine of this invention are easily distinguished from othersimilar articles by the quality of the crimping.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The attached drawing illustrates by wayof example a typical form of embodiment of a machine constructedaccording to the teachings of this invention. In the drawmg:

FIG. 1 is an axial section showing in vertical axial alignment, beforethe beginning of the crimping operation proper, a stopper of which theskirt is to be crimped, and the corresponding crimping head;

3,537,137 Patented Nov. 3, 1970 "ice FIG. 2 is a similar view showingthe same elements at the beginning of the crimping operation;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of an automatic crimping machine withparts shown in section taken along the line III-III of FIGURE 4;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal section taken upon the line IV- IV of FIGURE 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The plastic stopper illustratedby way of example in the drawing comprises a bottom 1 and an externalskirt 2; it further comprises an internal skirt 3 formed with an innershoulder 4 and provided at its outer end with a thinner lip 5; adehydrating product 6 in granular or powder form is adapted to bedisposed within the inner skirt 3 and a cardboard disc or washer 7bearing on the shoulder 4 is provided for retaining this product 6 inposition.

To keep the assembly in position the lip 5 of inner skirt 3 must becrimped over the disc or washer 7.

To this end, a tool head 8 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is used; this head 8is adapted to be heated by using electric current or any other suitablesource of energy, and comprises at its lower portion a circular annulargroove 9 of curved radial configuration; the contour of this groove 9 issuch that if a pressure is exerted on the tool head 8 in a directionparallel to its axis and towards the stopper the heated circular groove9 will soften the material constituting the thinner lip 5 of skirt 3 soas to crimp said lip over the washer or disc 7.

This operation may be carried out automatically by using the machineillustrated diagrammatically in FIG- URES 3 and 4.

This machine comprises a turret-platform 10 formed with spacedperipheral notches 11 each adapted to receive an open-ended tubularplastic stopper 12 to be crimped; these stoppers are fed from atransverse chute 13 either by gravity alone, due to its inclination, orby being carried along by an endless belt conveyor 14 driven from amotor 16 by means of a transmission 15, the shaft of this motor 15having secured thereon a pair of cams 17 and 18.

The first cam 17 controls the rocking motion of a twoarmed lever 19fulcrumed about a vertical pivot pin 20; the end of lever 19 which isopposite the follower end 21 engaging the contour of cam 17 carries anintegral foot 22 adapted to stop the aligned stoppers 23 in their guidechute 13; thus, when the cam 17 causes the lever 19 to pivot about itspin 20 in the clockwise direction as shown by the arrow, this foot 22releases the leading stopper 23 so that the latter can move forwardsuntil it engages an abutment 24; during its movement in the oppositedirection restoring said lever to the position illustrated, the heel 25of foot 22 causes a stopper 12 to penetrate into the notch 11 thenregistering therewith.

Then, the other cam 18 moves the stud 26 to the left against theresistance of a return spring 27, thus moving the hook member 28 andcausing the turret-platform 10 to be intermittently rotated due toengagement with one tooth 29; the number of teeth 29 corresponds to thatof said peripheral notches 11; therefore, another notch is substitutedfor the one having just received a stopper 12 and is therefore ready toreceive another stopper.

The crimping heads 8a, 8b are mounted by pairs on the lower end of rods30a, 30b guided by a mounting ring 31 rotatably rigid with said turretplatform 10, and carried by a strap 32 constantly biased upwardly by areturn spring 33, so that the roller 34 carried by strap 32 rolls on afixed cam 50 concentric to said turret-platform 10'.

The assembly comprising said tool heads 8a, 8b and their supportingmembers 30a, 30b, 31, 32, 33 and 34 revolves bodily with theturret-platform 10.

During this rotation, the stoppers 35 held in position by exert acertain pressure on the thin lips or open end portion of the skirts 3 tobe crimped by means of their curved grooves 9, this pressure beingexerted during more than one-half of a revolution of saidturret-platform the heat is eflfective immediately so as to facilitatethe crimping operation, as these heads are brought to the propertemperature to this end.

At the end of the travel, an inclined abutment member 38 is sufiicient,when the heads 8a and 8b have been raised again to their upper,inoperative position, for gradually extracting the stoppers from theirnotches 11 and bring them in succession firstly to position 39 and thento position 40 on the discharge chute 41, as shown in FIG. 4.

Of course, the specific form of embodiment described hereinabove withreference to the accompanying drawing is given by way of example onlyand it will be readily understood that many modifications and variationsmay be brought thereto without'departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claim.

What I claim is:

1. A machine for hot-crimping open-ended tubular plastic stopperscomprising a rotatably mounted turret; drive means for rotationallydriving said turret; means defining a plurality of Work stations on saidturret for receiving and holding open-ended tubular plastic stoppersstations; each of said crimping elements having a working positionoperable to effect a hot-crimping operation; each crimping elementcomprising a crimping head having an annular portion arcuate in crosssection dimensioned to encircle and deform inwardly the open end portionof a tubular plastic stopper seated in one of said work station's,heating means for heating each crimping head, follower means cooperativewith said stationary cam track in response to rotation of said turret toeflect movement of each crimping head to said working position andmaintain it therein throughout the hot-crin1ping operation, connectingmeans for connecting said crimping elements together in pairs; andwherein each said follower means comprises a cam follower rotatablymounted on said connecting means, and biasing means for continuouslybiasing said cam follower into contact with said stationary cam track. t

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 610,630 9/1898 Miller.

941,085 11/1909 Marthinson. 1,846,999 2/ 1932 Eaton 1820 1,991,706 2/1935 Seabury 1820 2,169,315 8/1939 Yngve 18-19 XR 2,354,029 7/1944Kingston 18-20 2,573,365 10/1951 Scholes 1820 XR 2,748,424 6/1956 Fay18--20 2,803,853 8/ 1957 Brazier 18-20 2,961,717 11/ 1960 Morin.

J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner R. L. SPICER, JR., Assist-antExaminer US. Cl. X.R. 1820

